Stone a no go as Steelbacks head to Derby

Alec Swann

Olly Stone has been ruled out of action for the next week with a side strain.

The seamer, who has played in Northamptonshire’s opening two Natwest t20 Blast fixtures, will definitely miss the trips to Derbyshire and Worcestershire over the next two days.

His place in the 13-man squad will be taken by Maurice Chambers and there are also spots for James Middlebrook and Rob Keogh with Rob Newton standing down because of a thumb injury.

Speaking about Stone, head coach David Ripley said: “Olly’s had scan this week and because of where the injury is he’s looking at seven-10 days off.

“It’s a pity but we don’t want him to make the injury any worse.”

As for Newton, Ripley added: “Rob’s been carrying a thumb injury for a while and while he played last week, he’s not quite in the right shape so that will mean David Sales will bat at four.”

Conditions will dictate who comes into the side for Stone with one of Chambers, Middlebrook or Keogh to be given the nod.

As for tonight’s (Thursday) opposition under the County Ground lights, the Steelbacks will face a side at the opposite end of the form spectrum.

While Kyle Coetzer’s side sit at the top of the North Group with two wins from two, Derbyshire are at the foot of the standings with two defeats from two against Leicestershire and Lancashire respectively.

But Ripley is well aware of that form doesn’t necessarily mean too much in the shortest format.

“It is a real leveller and it’s often a lot about momentum.

“We’ve got a couple of wins and they’ve got a couple of losses but any side can get going in a game like we did on the back of David Willey’s innings the other day.

“So we need to do the same, get out house in order, and let them worry about what we’re doing.”